Man charged with raping and videotaping sexual assaults on toddler and baby

‘The images of these videos are among the worst our investigators have ever seen.’ - HSI special agent in charge

ICE

Ever since the authorities uncovered videos which depicted a two-year-old child and a 13-month-old baby being raped by an adult, a multi-agency nationwide manhunt ensued, culminating in the March 25 arrest of alleged pedophile Benjamin Cuadrado, in Polk County, Fla.

CBS Miami quoted Sheriff Grady Judd from Polk County as saying, “This man is a monster. There are no other words to describe him,” after Cuadrado was arrested yesterday on child porn charges.

Those agencies taking part in the manhunt to find and apprehend Cuadrado included U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the Cyber Crimes Center in Washington, D.C.

HSI special agent in charge, Alysa Erichs, said:

“The images of these videos are among the worst our investigators have ever seen.”

The six horrific videos were originally discovered through social media venues. Authorities were able to arrest one man for possession of the child porn in Miami Beach and another in Las Vegas.

Erichs added:

“Today through a collaborative law enforcement effort and through the tireless dedication of numerous officers and investigators, we have arrested one of the worst child predators operating in our Florida area, but more importantly we have rescued two minor children from repeated sexual abuses.”

Although the face of the child rapist was partially obscured on the child porn videos, “a forensics sketch artist helped investigators identify the potential suspect who turned out to be Cuadrado, living in Central Florida.”

A spokesperson for the Polk County Sheriff’s Office said that Cuadrado admitted to “sexually abusing the child and infant and to videotaping the abuse.”

Reportedly, Cuadrado further admitted to being personally involved in more than 40 additional acts of sexual abuse from 2012 through January 2014. Investigators believe that the sexual abuse of one of the children appearing in the videos may have started when the child was as young as three-months-old.

What remains unknown at this point is whether or not Cuadrado was biologically related to any of his young victims.

According to Cuadrado’s arrest report, the videos depicted “an adult male identified as the defendant ‘seen performing oral sex on the infant’ and ‘kissing, sucking, and licking on the face of the infant.’”

“Although we know we can’t undo what has been done to these children, we can rest knowing it cannot be done under the hands of Cuadrado and that he is potentially facing spending the rest of his life in jail,” Erichs said.

Officials involved with the case say that there may be more of Cuadrado’s child porn videos out there, but also say they don’t believe there are any more victims.

Cuadrado is currently in custody, being held without bond, and will most likely be looking at more in the way of federal charges.